Lever mechanism.



PATENTED JAN. 15, 1907.-

A. R. & F. S, WELCH. LEVER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNI-15,1905.

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PATENTED JAN. 15, 1907; A. E. E E. s. WELGE. LEVER MEGEANISM.APPLICATION FILED JUNE. 1905.

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No. 841,362. PATENTBD JAN. 15, 1907.

` A. R. @L F. s. WELCH.

LEVER MEGHANISM. APPLIGA-TION FILED TUNE 5.1905.

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ALLIER. VELCH AND' FRED STIMSON VELCH, OF PONTIAC, MICHIGAN.

LEVER IVIECHANISNI.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 15, 1907.

. Application filed .Tune 5,1905. Serial No. 263,723.

To LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALLIE RAY WELCH and FRED S'riMsoN WELCH, bothcitizens of the United States, residing at Pontiac, county of Oakland,State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inLever Mechanism and we declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to lever mechanism for change-speed gears forautomobiles; and it consists in the improvements hereinafter described,and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of the gear-casing and a gearembodying our invention therein, the latter` being shown in section, theupper part of the gear-casing being removed, Fig. 2 is a section on theline 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of the clutch-surfaceshereinafter described. Fig. 4 is an elevation showing the constructionof the frictional clutch used. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5 ofFig. 1. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the operating-levers andconnecting-rods which shift the gearing to obtain the dierent speeds.Fig. 7 is an elevation of one face of the gear-wheel C, illustrating theconnection of the spiral tube c therewith.

A is the gear-casing, B is the driving-shaft, C is the driven shaft, andD is a counter-shaft. The shafts B 'and C are axially in line with eahother and are telescoped together at the en B' is a sleeve normallyadapted to rotate upon the shaft B.

B2 is a gear-wheel keyed 'upon the sleeve B.

B3 is a friction-clutch adapted to engage the sleeve B with the shaft B.

B4 is a ring secured upon the shaft B adj acent to the clutch B3.

B5 is a ring secured upon the shaft B adjacent to the clutch C,hereinafter described.

B6 is a ring secured upon the shaft B, so as to move longitudinallythereof, but restrained from turning with reference thereto. The innersurfaces of the rim of the ring BG are shaped to form cams.

b4 is one of the three bell-crank levers pivoted upon the ring B* andadapted to operate the clutch B3.

b5 is one of three bell-crank levers pivoted upon the ring B5 andadapted to operate the clutch C4. Said bell-crank levers have armsextending horizontally and are so constructed and pivoted thatcentrifugal force shall tend to draw them away from the clutchdisks.

The ring B acts upon said bell-crank lever b4 when moved in a directionto operate one of said clutches and upon the other of said bell-cranklevers when moved in the other direction to operate the other of saidclutches, and for this purpose it is provided with an internal annularcone surface adapted to pass outside of and contact said horizontal arm.

C is a gear-wheel revoluble upon the shaft C and having its inner faceformed with engaging teeth.

c is a spiral tube the inner end of which communicates with an apertureleading to the joint between the shafts B and C. The outer end of saidspiral tube is adapted to swing into the oil contained in the casing andtake up a portion of said oil and convey it to the joint ,in thewell-understood manner.

C2 is a gear-wheel normally adapted to rotate upon the shaft C andhaving its inner face provided with clutching teeth or projections ofthe form indicated in Fig. 3.

C3 is a disk keyed upon the shaft C, but adapted to slide longitudinallythereof, and provided with clutch teeth on both of its surfaces.

c3 is a' forked lever engaging the disk C3 and adapted to move itlongitudinally of the shaft C'. Vhen the disk C is moved up toward thegear-wheel C2, said gear-wheel is locked to the shaft C, and when saiddisk is moved in the other direction the gear-wheel C is locked to saidshaft. The clutches are of the multipledisk friction type, the disksbeing fitted upon a non-round portion of the shaft and havingprojections at their outer ends adapted to fit into grooves in the innerside of the fiange of the casing, as indicated most distinctly in Fig.4.

G is a shaft adapted to turn in a bearing upon the casing A.

G is a double-armed lever secured to the shaft G'.

G2 is a lever-arm upon the shaft G and ada ted to turn relative thereto.

GI; is a lever by which the shaft G may be turned by the hand of theoperator.

g is a connecting-rod pivoted to the end 0f IOC IOS

the lever G2 and to a ring g, adapted to slide upon the lever G3.

The lever-arm G2 may be set to different angular positions by adjustingthe ring g to E is a shaft pivoted in the casing A and having an arm c2attached thereto, which operates the disk C3.

H2 is a link havino a slot H4, through which passes the shaft E, and aslot H5, through which passes the shaft F. The link H2 is adapted toslide longitudinally upon the shafts E and F, being guided by the wallsof the slots H2 and H5.

E is a crank upon the end of the shaft E and having in its end remotefrom said shaft the pin E2.

H6 is a slot in the link H2, adapted to slide over the pin E2 withoutaltering the angular` positions of the lever E.

H7 is an enlargement of the slot H6, having walls k7 branching out at anangle from the walls of the slot H6.

H8 is a block adapted to slide vertically in the enlargement H7 of theslot H6. The end of the block Hs which is toward the shaft E is shapedto have sides or walls .parallel to the wall k7. When the block H8 is atthe top of the enlargement H7, as indicated at Fig. 6, a wall of saidblock and one of the walls k7 form together a downwardly-extendingprolongation of the slot H6. When said block is at the bottom of saidenlargement, the corresponding Walls form an upwardly-extendingprolongation of the slot H6.

H10 is a lever pivoted at H11 and connected with the block H8 at one endby a connecting rod or link H1. At the other end the lever H1o isconnected to one end of the lever-arm G2. When the lever-arm G2 is atits lowest position, the block H8 is at its upper position, and whensaid ring is at its upper posiy tion the block H8 is at its lowerposition. At

an intermediate position the block Hs will be midway in its travel andwill prevent the pin E2 from moving out of the slot H11.

H is a connecting-rod pivoted to the upper end of the lever G, passingthrough a lug H3 and provided with a nut H12 at its outer end and springH12 between said lug and said nut.

H15 is a nut upon the connecting-rod H, which limits the movement of theconnecting-rod through the lug H3 in a direction away from the lever G.

D is a gear-wheel upon the counter-shaft D, the teeth of which mesh withthe gearwheel B2 on the sleeve B of the shaft B.

D2 is a gear-wheel, smaller than D, upon the counter-shaft D, the teethof which mesh with the teeth of the gear-wheel C2 upon the shaft (l. Y

D3 is a gear-wheel keyed upon the counter-shaft D and engaging, hrough agearwheel D4, Fig. 2, with the gear-wheel C.

The operation of the above-described device is as follows: lf the leverGi1 is turned toward the right, as shown in Fig. 6, the crank- H22 ismoved to the left, turning the shaft F 'in the direction of the hands ofa watch and engaging the shaft B directly witiL the shaft G by means ofthe clutch (V11. During this motion the link H2 is pressed toward theright, bringing the shafts F and E and the pin E2 at the left ends ofthe slots H5, H2, and H6. In this position the shaft E and the disk C2,Fig. 1, is held in its intermediate position, and both the gear-wheels CC2 are free to rotate relative to the shaft C. The shaft B is then bounddirectly to the shaft C, and all the gear-wheels 'that are in mesh arefree to turn in their respective shafts, so that the driving-shaft isconnected directly to the driven shaft and a high speed is secured; lfthe lever G3 is turned in the opposite direction-that is, to the left,as shown in Fig. hthe arm H22 is moved toward the right, binding thesleeve B to the shaft B. (See Fig` 1.) With the block H8 in the positionshown in Fig. 6, the link' H2 being drawn toward the left by theconnecting-rod H, the pin E2 passes downward beneath said block,

turning the crank t and shaft E in the direction of the hands of a watchand causing the disk C2, Fig. 1, to engage the gear-wheel C', binding itto the shaft C. y With this connection a motion of the shaft C oppositeto that of the shaft B is secured through gearwheels D2, D, D3, D2, andvC. lf the ring g is pulled upward, the block H8 is drawn to its lowerposition, and the pin E2 rises upward in the upward extension of theslot H6, turning the crank E and shaft E in the opposite direction tothat of the hands of a clock and locking the gear-wheel C2 to the shaftC. Thus the shaft C turns in the same direction as the shaft B, but ataslower angular velocity, the motion being conveyed through thegearwheels B2, D, D2, and C2. In both of the latter cases thelever-arm`H22 is pulled to the right, binding the sleeve B to the shaftB by means of the clutch B2.

Vhat we claim is- 1. Mechanism for producing various speed combinations,comprising a lever operatively connected with said mechanism, and a partadapted to slide along said lever and connected to said mechanism so asto adjust the same to make one or the other of said combinations.

2. The combination of a shifting crank, a slidable piece adapted to movein the direction of the length of said crank, a block carried by saidpiece having two cam-surfaces, one or the other of said cam-surfacesbeing IOO adapted to act on said crank to shift the same accordingly tothe position of said block.

3. The combination of a shifting crank, a piece adapted to slide in thedirection of the length of said crank, said piece being provided withtwo opposing cam-surfaces eX- tending in the direction of its movementand diverging toward their ends, a block upon said sliding piece havingcam-surfaces parallel to said diverging portion of the cam-surfaces,said block being adjustable to form an opposing surface to one or theother of the diverging portions of said cam-surfaces.

4. The combination of an operating-lever, a shifting crank, a pieceadapted to slide in the direction of the length of said crank, a blockupon said sliding piece having two camsurfaces, one or the other of saidcam-surfaces being adapted to act upon the shifting crank according tothe position of said block upon said piece, a lever fulcrumedapproximately concentric with said operating-lever connected to saidblock so as to adjust the position of the same, and means for changingthe position of the last-named lever.

5. The combination of an operating-lever, a shifting crank, a pieceadapted to slide in the direction of the length of said crank, a blockupon said slidingpiece having two cam surfaces, one or the other of saidcam-surfaces being adapted yto act upon the shifting crank according tothe position of said block upon said piece, a lever fulcrurnedapproximatelyr concentric with said operating-lever connected to saidblock so as to adjust the position of the same, and a sliding part uponthe operating-lever connected with the b'loekshifting lever so as toadjust the position of y'the same.

6. The combination of an operating-lever, two shifting cranks, one ofsaid shifting cranks being connected to said operating-lever so asalways to move in the same direction with the same movement of saidlever, and means actuated by said operating-lever for turning the otherof said shifting cranks in one way or the other with one motion of theoperating-lever.

7. The combination of an operating-lever, a shifting crank, and meansactuated by said lever for turning said shifting crank in one way or theother with one motion of the oper: ating-lever.

8. The combination of an operating-lever, a shifting crank, meansactuated by said operating-lever for turning said shifting crank in oneWay or the other with one motion of the operating-lever, and means foradjusting the turning means to turn the shifting crank in the directiondesired.

In testimony whereof we sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

ALLIE R. VELCH. Y FRED STIMSON WELCH.

